The next morning I woke up curled onto Loki's chest, feeling it rise and fall as he slept. It was the most peaceful way to wake up I had ever experienced. The feeling of his arms wrapped tightly around me and our legs chained together.
I allowed my eyes to flutter shut once again as I smiled, but my phone's ringing from the nightstand made me huff.
Loki gripped me tighter when I went to grab it, making me smile as I kissed his jaw. "I need to make sure it's not an emergency, my love." I whispered softly. I watched him smile without even opening his eyes, releasing his grip.
I felt my eyebrows furrow as I grabbed my phone and saw Jane's contact information. We spoke somewhat regularly; not an insane amount, but enough that we considered one another friends. We almost never FaceTimed one another, though. We always texted.
I sat up thoroughly and moved further away from Loki to keep him off the screen before I answered.
"Hey gorgeous." Jane smiled brightly on the other end, "Oh crap, did I wake you up?"
"It's fine, beautiful. I was awake; I just hadn't gotten out of bed yet." I said with a slight laugh.
"Elle!" I heard my familiar best friend's voice as he snatched the phone away from Jane, struggling to hold the phone steady to show me his face. I felt the body beside me stiffen.
"Thor, did you make Jane call me?"
"You didn't come home last evening. I was prepared to start a search for you."
I glanced over at an EXTREMELY unamused Loki rolling his eyes as his jaw clenched, looking up at the ceiling.
"I stayed at my place." I said with a laugh. "No need to worry."
"I told him to leave you the heck alone!" Jane jokingly called out from the background.
"I just want to keep you protected." Thor nearly grumbled, not in an angry way though. He more or less seemed like a scolded child, sulking as he explained his reasoning. It wasn't his fault he had worried. On a normal basis, I would've told Thor I was going to my apartment. In fact, Thor had his own room here, and it wasn't uncommon for him to come with me during one of Tony and I's spats.
"Yes, well, I'm fine. I appreciate your concern, Thunder."
"Of course, my lady." Loki's neck had to have nearly broken as he snapped his head in my direction aggressively.
"I have some homework to do, Thor. I'll talk to you two later." I said with a smile, before Thor nodded and got off the phone.
"Wha-"
"What in the realms was that?" Loki scolded immediately, cutting me off before I could even finish a single word of my sentence.
"What was what?" I now questioned, my eyebrows furrowing. Loki stared at me a moment.
"Why would he call you that?" I tilted my head a bit, not quite understanding the question. "His lady? What happened to him being like a brother?"
"He is." I said softly. "I'm... going to assume that term means something more significant in Asgard?"
Loki opened his mouth, but paused. "What does it mean here?" He now questioned in a calmer tone, those his frustrated haze still clouded the room.
"It's kinda an older term, but it's more often a term of respect." Loki's eyebrows furrowed as a small crease formed on his forehead, so I continued. "Like saying 'my prince', only the woman you're speaking with is more of a peer than a royal..." Loki eased at this answer.
"Midgardian terms are incredibly strange."
"What's it mean on Asgard?" I asked with a bit of a laugh, laying on my stomach and resting a hand on Loki's chest. Loki's hand instinctively went over my own, holding it tightly.
"On Asgard it's one of a few terms of endearment one uses when courting with a woman, before marriage... It's also how an Asgardian man would introduce said woman to close family, except in the case of royalty. Then you'd introduce them as your consort rather than your lady."
"So it means girlfriend or significant other, essentially."
Loki rolled his eyes. "Yes, but our terms are better. Yours make me want to vomit."
"Yours sound like something a thousand-year-old vampire would use in a shitty romance novel." I countered.
Loki chuckled a bit, turning to look at me. "You do know I'm over a thousand years old, correct?"
That did catch me a bit off guard. Of course he had been alive for forever, he's a freaking Norse god. However, I didn't ever really think of it. I didn't really consider his age at all, in all honesty. I decided to play it off, smiling as I looked him up and down.
"You do look quite good for a geriatric Viking."
Loki's eyebrows tilted upwards, his mouth slightly agape as he smiled and sat up. "You're testing me now, pet."
"That's the goal." I said with a grin. Loki's hands reached out to grab me, but I launched myself out of the bed and to my feet with a smile. "Nice try, mischief." I went to walk towards the doorway and make myself a cup of coffee, but in an instant mist of green Loki was directly in front of me. "No fair, you're cheating." I giggled as I tried to swoop around him, only to be wrapped into his arms tightly with my back forced against his chest.
"What in the realms would give you the impression I play fairly?" I could nearly hear his smirk as his breath hit my ear.
"If you want tea, Loki, I need released." I said with a slight jump as I tried very half-heartedly to remove his arms from my waist.
Loki hummed, swaying lightly with me. "I would enjoy tea, love, but I would also enjoy..." He trailed off as he quickly scooped me up, throwing me onto the bed.
"Loki!" I squealed as I hit the plush surface. Loki threw himself down beside me, his arms hugging my waist, once again trapping me against him.
"Let's just go back to bed, darling."
"I have to meet Fury in a couple hours, Lo." I whined, turning to face him. My hands went to his cheeks, my thumb lightly rubbing back and forth on his jaw line as I shot a sympathetic smile to him. I had to admit, I hadn't imagined Loki to be the 'clingy' or affectionate type, but I was absolutely ecstatic about it. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, between he and I, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and tried not to focus on anything else.
"And meeting that imbecile is more enjoyable than being here in my company?"
"Of course not!" I protested quickly, "But I do have to continue doing my daily activities while you're here, otherwise the director will get suspicious. Fury didn't even know you were at the tower, let alone that you're here now. We should keep it that way." I paused for a moment when his expression was unreadable, "No matter how long you've planned to stay. It's best he believes you've been on Asgard the entire time."
Loki smiled a bit, clearly knowing I was rather subtly asking how long this visit of his was going to last. "I will be here as long as I can be here." He said quietly, his thumb now drawing circles on my hip. "I guess, since you're so incredibly insistent, I will allow you to leave the bed now."
I smirked as he released me and got off the bed. Loki followed me to the main living space as I made us some coffee and tea, and Loki admired my open concept living room and kitchen for the first time.
"It's quite comfortable here." He commented as he walked around the living room, before finally noticing the two bookshelves full of novels I enjoyed. "I really didn't take you for an avid reader."
"It's more or less all true crime books, though I think I have some fantasy towards the bottom on the right." I motioned as I handed him his mug. "Feel free to help yourself."
"Any enthralling recommendations for while you're away?"
I pondered for a moment, before nodding. "I like this entire line." I pointed out a couple on it that were my favorites. I pulled one out completely. "This one is a bunch of cold cases filed together, like the Zodiac, D.B. Cooper, all that."
"Who?"
"Oh, a serial killer who was a real attention whore, and a guy who hijacked a plane and basically disappeared in the sky, just vanished like magic. The guy either died, or was an absolute genius."
I felt a weird twinge of mischief in the air as I finished my sentence, making me raise an eyebrow at Loki. "This one sounds wonderful." He said as he took the book.
"Loki?" I asked after a moment, tapping the book in his fingers. "You definitely weren't the Zodiac killer, right?"
"I can assure you, my dear mortal, I was not whoever that is... To the best of my knowledge. I am a bit unfamiliar with that case."
I bit my cheek to hide a smile, huffing a bit. "But D.B. Cooper?"
Loki failed at hiding the small glint of trouble in his eyes, but shook his head. "I can also thoroughly assure you I've never portrayed myself to be a 'D.B. Cooper'." I nodded, satisfied with his answer as I walked away to begin getting dressed. He nearly had me, because it was only as I was throwing on my jacket that I realized how precise his words were.
I cursed myself with a laugh as I ran to my front room, throwing my hands on the couch dramatically as Loki sat on the ottoman beside it. "Dan Cooper." I said abruptly. Loki erupted in laughter, licking his lips.
"Oh how cruel the gods." He feigned, throwing his hand on his chest. "You've caught me, detective!"
I checked the time on my phone. Definitely not enough for me to hear that story. "We will be unpacking that one when I get home." I stated with a grin.
"I expect to hear the hotel story as well, dove!" He called as I walked towards the door.
"It's a deal, mischief!"